Florida Auto Accident Lawyers
The Concept of Comparative Fault

When an auto accident occurs, one of the first decisions made by the police who investigate the accident is to assign fault for the collision. While this decision could involve a citation or worse for the person who is found at fault, that does not necessarily mean that one driver is completely at fault and the other is completely without it. In fact, the majority of auto accident cases in Florida that go to trial involve the decision of how much fault can be assigned to each party to an accident.

When this situation arises in court, it's known as the legal concept of comparative negligence. Below you'll find a brief explanation of how this works in theory, but if you have been involved in an accident in which you may have been partially at fault, you should still seek the help of an experienced Florida auto accident attorney at the law firm of Bernstein & Maryanoff.

Comparative Fault - What it Means

Comparative fault is a legal doctrine that basically takes into account the reality that when an auto accident or any other personal injury case arises, it's common for both parties to a lawsuit to be at least partially at fault. Therefore, rather than preventing an injured plaintiff from bringing a valid claim, the law allows for a comparison to be done before deciding on damages.

Florida is known as a 'pure' comparative negligence state, which means that a plaintiff is entitled to recover damages with a successful claim even if he or she was more at fault than the defendant. In other jurisdictions, the plaintiff must be less at fault than the defendant in order to be able to recover damages. This is known as 'modified' comparative fault.

How Comparative Fault Works in Florida

If one were to see how this concept works in reality, a hypothetical situation would be helpful to obtain a clear understanding. If Driver A and Driver B are involved in an accident and Driver A files a lawsuit, then the court must decide which party is at fault based on the facts of the case and the evidence presented.

If Driver A asks the court to award $100,000 in damages and the jury finds that Driver A was 55 percent at fault for what occurred but the claim was otherwise valid, then Driver A would recover $45,000 in damages from Driver B. However, Driver A would still have to prove all the elements of negligence in order to be awarded damages.

If this sounds complicated, that's because it can be if someone does not have legal experience. Rather than attempting to handle this situation by yourself, contact the Florida auto accident lawyers at Bernstein & Maryanoff today to schedule a free initial consultation.